Strong American Schools’ ED in ’08 campaign became one of the most successful independent advocacy initiatives of the 2008 election season and has helped turn the need for education reform from a low-priority campaign issue into one of the Obama Administration’s top policy priorities.
–“Final Report from Strong American Schools” e-mail from Roy Romer and Marc Lampkin, June 9, 2009
ED in ’08 spent millions of dollars with almost nothing to show for it. That’s not a shame in and of itself, because loads of policy and political experiments fail (and that’s why we call them experiments). But when you flop on a big stage and then claim an Academy Award? Sheesh. Education was one of the lowest-visibility issues in the campaign, it’s hard to see how education is trumping the economy or health care as a focus of the White House’s attention, and it’s even harder to see how ED in ’08 is responsible for whatever attention is being paid to education policy.
I don’t know what Roy Romer and Marc Lampkin are smoking, but I’m tempted to ask.